Just a "heads up". From Kotor there is a road that leads away from the bay inland. The views are spectacular. But, It goes up the side of a steep mountain and has 25 numbered 180 degree switchback turns and at least 75 other sharp turns. Rock wall on one side and nothing on the other. Can't remember the name or number of the road, but it went to the towns of Njegusi and Cetinje. Don't mean to rain on you parade, but don't want you to get into a hairy situation without any knowledge. If anyone in your party is prone to motion sickness or has a problem with heights you might want to have your guide avoid this road. You can go to bing.com, use the map feature, and see aerial views of the road from &*$$. You can also check it out on googlemaps.com. It is possible, however, to go to and from Kotor with using that particular road. In addition, on 12 Mar. 2017 there was a thread titled "Greece Montenegro Croatia". One person included a link to the map that shows the road. Another person had a link to a video made along parts of the road.

This is a pretty old post so it may be a bit late. We've been to Montenegro twice. The first trip was just a few days on the bay of Kotor. We stayed in Perast and i am glad we did. Kotor is interesting if you havent been to Dubrovnik. The road described isnt that bad and is a beautiful drive. Podgorica is an easy airport to depart from and connects to Rome and Budapest and Belgrade and a number of other interesting locations.

The first trip was so good that last year we went back for a little better than a week. We did all the coastal towns and then went north to the mountains for a few days of fishing. This is a spectacular country.

If i were to return i would use the same guide again. She was nothing short of magnificent; Dušica Stanišić. If you are interested, PM me and i will give you her contact information.

I had no trouble at all navigating that twisty road from Kotor to Cetinje - in fact, I recommend it for the stunning views down on the bay. I am prone to motion sickness...but only as a passenger, so as a driver I had no trouble at all.

Thanks James and Andrew for responding. James - If you could send me a PM with the guide info that would be helpful as I am still in the planning stage and can adjust. Andrew - I will be doing that road but as a passenger.

Ed, make sure you stop along the way on that drive at the obvious viewpoints for pictures (or just to take a break if the drive feels too windy). There aren't really parking spots as I recall but still places where one can safely pull over - I know I did, several times.

I disagree with James E. (and others) about Perast. I thought it was an attractive-enough little coastal town, from which one could take a small boat out to a tiny island with a tiny church. Full stop. I can't imagine wanting to spend the night there unless the goal is peace and quiet. I much preferred Kotor as a base, but it mattered a lot that I had at least one full day in town without a cruise ship in port. My impression of Budva was that it felt a bit more touristy than Kotor on Kotor's non-cruise-ship days but less touristy than Kotor when it had a mega-ship was in port. It would be a shame to see Kotor only on one of its ultra-crowded days, but even then, it seemed to me that most of the visitors were concentrated in the part of the old town nearest the port.

I thought Herceg-Novi was more interesting that Perast but must confess that I didn't spend a great deal of time in either one. (I am wondering what I missed in Perast; I thought I had walked pretty much from one end of town to the other.) I also liked Cetinje (not coastal, and I guess not as "cute") and Ulcinj. I also preferred Budva to Perast.

I stopped in Perast for only about an hour. I'm guessing you didn't "miss" anything. The appeal is the quaintness - at least it was to me.

I spent a night in Kotor (or, about a 10 minute walk from the old town); I had a car so parked it at the apartment I rented nearby. Kotor is a nice place, but I didn't find it particularly amazing, the way I did with say old town Dubrovnik. The reason I sometimes suggest Perast instead of Kotor is just because it is smaller and quieter - some people like places like that vs. a larger, busier town.

After Dubrovnik i wanted a place with few tourists. Dubrovnik is pure Disneyland. Stunning, worth the time, but, at least within the walls, pure fiction. Kotor is a small Dubrovnik; and when a tour ship arrives its worse in that regard than Dubrovnik due to the size.

Perast, yes, is quaint. We arrived around noon, did the boat to the islands (and enjoyed it), then Perast served its purpose to sit on the edge of the water and have a nice meal and a few drinks as the sun set without being in the center of a mob of tourists. https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ai7Zk-szxfTJgbgpcyx2_O7gofVRmQ and https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ai7Zk-szxfTJgbh6w3JW7N8OyrsAzw Then if that's the total of your interest you go to Kotor about 30 minutes away and by 2pm you are ready to escape the madness of wall to wall tourist and you move on.

Personally, i loved Budva because unlike Dubrovnik and Kotor; Budva exists despite tourism, not because of tourism. We only spent a few nights but they were worth it. Much more "real". Did some excellent fishing as well. Then Bar and Ulcinj. Bar was fascinating and a great afternoon and a great day trip. Ulcinj we slept again. I have mixed feelings about Ulcinj. Fascinating but not a place i am quick to recommend. Then we headed north and it really, really got good!